Opponents of Youth Shelter in Downtown Bremerton Make Their Case

Many people who live or do business in downtown Bremerton don’t want to see a “youth connection center” nearby.

The Family Preservation Program of Bremerton and Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington plan to put in a center for youth who have been kicked out of their houses, been abused there or are on the streets.

Housing would be provided to children in part of the Max Hale Center at Fifth Street and Pacific Avenue for a couple nights or up to three weeks.

Business owners and nearby residents, including a few who live in the waterfront condominiums, said they support the idea of the center but think putting it downtown is a bad idea. About 20 of them attended a meeting Tuesday hosted by City Councilman Roy Runyon, who said he didn’t know how much the council could do to stop the center.

Klaus Golombek, who doesn’t live near downtown but maintains an interest in revitalization efforts, said new projects downtown should be designed to increase business activity there. “This doesn’t do it,” he said.

“Most of us would agree this is not a bad service. The question is whether it should be here,” Golombek said.

Most of the people who spoke against the project argued that a center for at-risk youth isn’t appropriate for an area that is being revitalized.

Amy Burnett, who owns an art gallery next door to the facility, said if the city allows a non-retail use there, she should be allowed to do the same in her building.

Carol Perlmutter, who lives in the Harborside Condominium complex, provided petitions for people to sign to express disapproval of the idea, which is still in the conceptual phase.

The agencies that hope to open the center still have to raise an estimated $1.3 million, obtain the right licenses and apply for a building permit.

Perlmutter said she doesn’t have any problem with the people who currently live in the Max Hale Center, but she worries that kids living temporarily in the new facility won’t be properly supervised. She said she worried about taking her 14-pound dog out for a walk, to which somebody joked: “You need a bigger dog.”

Opponents of the plan expressed anxiety that there might be little they could do to stop the youth center.

“It’s not enough to say ‘This is out of our hands,’” downtown property owner Lou Soriano said to Runyon. “It can get in your hands if you raise enough hell.”

Andrea Spencer, Bremerton’s director of community development, said Wednesday that her department won’t weigh in until a permit application is filed. But she added that current zoning would appear to allow such a facility. “I don’t know that I can prohibit it from a zoning standpoint,” she said.

Runyon said he was still gathering information about the proposal and that neighbors will likely emerge who support the center. He said he hopes to facilitate conversation among all sides.